US: average-priced car getting more expensive than what average American can afford

While the US has shown a rapid recovery from the latest financial and economical crisis, the turnaround has been rapidly reflected by the prices of new cars and not so much by the average income in the household.

With various studies showing that Average Transaction Prices have been hitting record levels, more and more motorists are getting priced out of the rising market. A new study made by financial website Interest.com shows that “average-priced” new car or truck is no longer accessible to the average median-income household in 24 out of 25 largest metro areas.

“Too many families are spending way too much on new cars and trucks,” said Mike Sante, managing editor of Interest.com. “Just because you can manage the monthly payment doesn’t mean you should let a $30,000 or $40,000 ride gobble up such a huge share of your paycheck.”

According to Interest.com, now the average new vehicle is priced at $32,086, TrueCar.com has the same ATP at $32,074 – with an increase of $1,110, or 3.6%, from last year’s February.
Analysts and forecasters say the rising average price – which goes up faster than the rate of inflation, could become a key element in their reasoning for the auto industry not reaching any time soon the same sales peak that was last registered at 17 million vehicles.